


Dancing

by Jena Bartley (jenab)



Category: CSI: Miami
Genre: F/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-09-04
Updated: 2006-09-04
Packaged: 2017-11-02 19:56:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/372786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenab/pseuds/Jena%20Bartley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They had been doing this dance around each other for years now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dancing

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://delgaserasca.livejournal.com/profile)[**delgaserasca**](http://delgaserasca.livejournal.com/)’s multi fandom ficathon way back in July. Due to a fried hard drive I'm only posting it now.
> 
> Thank you to [](http://binglexjells.livejournal.com/profile)[**binglexjells**](http://binglexjells.livejournal.com/) for the beta.

“What have you got for me, Calleigh?”

Calleigh looked up from the microscope, grinning. “We got her. There is GSR on her hands and I’ve just confirmed the bullets from our vic match the bullets test fired from her gun. Take a look.”

Calleigh stepped back to give Horatio access to the microscope. Their bodies brushed against one another as they changed positions. It took Horatio a moment to bring the image under the microscope into focus. The scent of Calleigh’s skin didn’t fade from his nose as he looked at the two bullets under the ‘scope.

“Great work, Calleigh. Get Frank and go arrest Mrs. Kendricks for the murder of her husband.”

Calleigh grinned, a look on her face Horatio was more than familiar with. It was Calleigh’s hunting look when she’d just nailed a suspect with solid evidence. Horatio smiled back, his own version of Calleigh’s gotcha grin.

She brushed by him again as she headed towards the doorway. Closer this time, her head turned just enough to catch his eyes. The smile had changed, the look of a predator in her eyes but this time hunting something else other than criminals. The heat of her body against his had his body tightening in response. The scent of her perfume today was familiar and seductive. It never failed to remind him of hot, humid nights, the heady sensation of naked skin, and tangled sheets under his hands.

Horatio watched her leave. His eyes trailed down her body, from the bouncy swing of her ponytail to the enticing sway of her hips. His hands itched to reach out and pull her back to him. He wanted to feel the fullness of her breasts against his chest, to slid his hands down over her hips, bringing her even closer to him.

Instead, he rubbed the arms of his sunglasses between his fingers, a pale substitute for Calleigh’s curves. He lingered in the gun lab until he was sure Calleigh was gone, before heading to his office. The scent of her still lingered in his nose, making his body react and his mind drawing up images he shouldn’t be thinking about an employee.

They had been doing this dance around each other for years now. The suddenly clear awareness of the other as someone more than just a colleague and friend lurking behind their eyes when they looked at one another. It always flared up whenever they were both free of other people and other demands. Never acted on once, despite the heat between them.

It had been over a year since Marisol’s death, the sharp grief faded to regret over what could have been. He missed her and the life they almost had together. While he’d loved her, the passion between them never quite came close to the heat he felt for Calleigh. But then what he’d felt for Yelena had also been different from how he felt about Marisol and Calleigh.

 

He and Calleigh never acted once on what lay unspoken between them. They flirted at times, brushed against one another in passing in the lab or at a crime scene. They always looked but that was it. Calleigh was his second in command, a close friend and confidant, someone he didn’t want to lose if a relationship went sour between them. Crossing that line from being her boss to being her lover was one rule Horatio was not willing to break. He didn’t want to lose her, not to politics if they were found out, nor to a situation that may force one of them to choose between the job or the other person.

Calleigh had also never approached him to deepen their current relationship for which Horatio was grateful. Instead, they did this dance, always circling one another. Coming close enough to full the flames and Horatio’s dreams, but never any further.

Today, Horatio found himself wanting to finally take that step. He wanted more than just dreams of Calleigh naked in his bed. He was tired of seeing the women in his life walk away from him or dying. Tired of wanting Calleigh but not willing to risk being with her when he risked his life and career for others.

He’d lost Yelena to his brother without once trying to see what more was between them. Marisol to death, and Monica to differing views on their jobs. Lately, he’d realized he could lose Calleigh just as easily. Their job was a dangerous one and all it took was one misstep, one bullet and she would be lost to him for good. Leaving him with even more regrets over what could have been.

By the time he was ready to leave for the day, the sun was setting just outside his office window. The paperwork from Eric and Ryan’s closed case sat on his desk alongside Frank’s preliminary interrogation of Mrs. Kendricks.

“Horatio?” Calleigh knocked on the door, holding a file folder.

“Case closed?”

Calleigh smiled, handing out the report. “Case closed. Mrs. Kendricks started talking as soon as I laid out the evidence for her. She’s being processed even as we speak.”

“Good.” Horatio took the report, his hand brushing over Calleigh’s fingers.

“There is one other thing I would like to discuss with you.”

Horatio looked up from the folder, to catch her eyes. The air felt heavy between them as she turned to him. What he saw in her eyes, made Horatio’s pulse race. Maybe he wasn’t the only one tired of the dance. He set the folder down and came around the desk.

“What is it you would like to talk about?”

Calleigh smiled. That seductive smile of a predator coming in for a kill.

“How would you like to go on a date with me?”


End file.
